Roxanne Modafferi campaigns for Strikeforce fight with Shayna Baszler

After her fight with Shayna Baszler, a loss that would linger with her and inspire her for the next 31 months, Roxanne Modafferi put a hole in the locker-room wall.

It was August 2006, and the pair met in Tokyo at a BodogFIGHT event. It was a defining fight for Modafferi, a Japan resident since 2003 who dealt with the usual frustrations of being a female MMA fighter living in the country. It was on television, and Modafferi had already proven herself a skilled fighter with a 7-3 record.

Since, Modafferi (13-4) has gained more MMA success with a six-fight winning streak and more frustration in working to collect attention and opponents. It all came to a head earlier this week when Strikeforce announced that Baszler would participate in the organization’s June 19 “Strikeforce Challengers” event in Kent, Wash.

Modafferi knows that could’ve been her. Don’t misunderstand; she loves her life in Japan, living in the Kanagawa prefecture about an hour south of Tokyo and teaching English. But she also feels that another chance at Baszler, or any other female fighter in Strikeforce, could prove that she remains the successful fighter she was before the fight with Baszler, even if she has a tougher time gaining attention in Japan.

“I like to say that you have to step over bodies to get to the top (in MMA),” Modafferi said in what was, for her, late Friday night in Japan. “Well, she stepped over me. She’s fighting on Showtime, and my career kind of stopped.”

She’s doing her best to kick start it again.

Life in Japan

Modafferi first moved to Japan in 2003 on an exchange program with the University of Massachusetts, where she was studying Japanese. She returned to the United States, graduated and returned to Japan, where she has stayed since.

Her first professional fight came just months after she went overseas, in November 2003. She started her career with five straight wins, including a victory against then-undefeated Jennifer Howe in November 2004, while adjusting to life in her new surroundings.

“Here, you get what’s expected,” Modafferi said. “By that I mean there’s a big emphasis on customer service. They have to give you exactly what you want and exactly what you need. Everyone’s very punctual, very polite, no one butts in front of you in the line for the train, no one’s asking for deals or arguing over prices. What’s written down is what is expected.”

But her fighting career hasn’t advanced exactly as she expected. Aside from struggling for respect from the male fighters where she trains and throughout the country, she’s also trying to set fights and let fans know what she’s up to.

Her New York-based manager, Shu Hirata, is constantly contacting organizations.

“They say, ‘Oh, when is she going to be in the States next?'” Modafferi said. “I’ve heard that over and over.”

So what about moving back?

“I think about it every day,” Modafferi said. “I know fighters who have sacrificed their jobs for their careers. But think about it; let’s say I move to the States, what would I do for work? The economy is tough right now. I could move in with my mom, but I have no dojo there. I would have no money. I would be miserable.”

Looking for Shayna

As soon as Modafferi saw the news about Baszler’s move to Strikeforce, she headed to the popular MMA message board, The Underground, and started a thread titled, “I’ll fight Shayna Baszler!”

“I want revenge,” Modafferi wrote.

Baszler, not long after, responded. She posted, “Heck, it doesn’t matter to ME who I shwing on Showtime… ;)”

The two are friendly. They even went out for ice cream after the October 2006 fight in Tokyo, and Modafferi highly respects Baszler as a fighter.

Her respect drives her even more to meet her again in the cage.

“It drives me nuts,” Modafferi said. “I can’t sleep sometimes. I’m not on TV, I have a tough time finding opponents here in my weight class, and I’m not sure what’s going to happen. I feel like I’m helpless.”

That’s why Modafferi is going on the offensive. Whether through message boards or friends, Modafferi is mounting a good-natured public-relations campaign to get more fights in the States, even if it’s not immediately against Baszler.

Because Baszler was the opponent for a defining fight for Modafferi, though, that’s where her attention lies.

“She stepped on me, and I wanna step on her now,” Modafferi said. “Then she can buy me ice cream.”

Award-winning newspaper reporter Kyle Nagel is the lead features writer for MMAjunkie.com.

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